Despite a stumble on the ice from Lapinskas, Gardiner was the only judge who voted to save Ward.

A similar situation occurred in week one when Pamela Anderson slipped in the skate-off. She was considered a stronger skater than her rival Keith Chegwin by the judges, however in that instance the panel based their decision purely on the skate-off and eliminated Anderson.

Speaking afterwards on Twitter, Gardiner said: "In the skate off mistakes should count. We got rid of Pammy week 1 & it should be no different. #stick2rules."

Following allegations from viewers that the show's skate-off results were fixed, he clarified his comments on Facebook.

"Last night's controversial Save Me skate has caused much consternation on Twitter so I would like to first address the claims that it was 'a fix'. I can hand on heart guarantee that the judges on DOI are in no way influenced by our producers or ITV in who we choose to save," said Gardiner.

"If that were the case I certainly wouldn't have been asked back because as you all know, I always speak my mind."

Speaking about the skate-off, he continued: "Shayne did brilliantly during both routines and I truly believe he was coming into his own. Yes Matt is the better skater and performer, I certainly didn't want to see him go, but surely the Save Me Skate should be solely based on that performance and what makes it so unpredictable is that it's brutal.

"Mistakes must be taken into account and the celebrity who makes them, in my opinion, should be sent home.

"The real crime last night was that Matt and Shayne found themselves in the bottom two. This should never have happened. Let me reiterate, we don't decide the bottom two, that is down to viewer votes. As last night proves no one is safe so if you don't want to lose your favourite then make sure you vote."